Thomas rubbed his sore knuckles as he waited for his call to connect.


    His shock and anger had dissolved into shame and guilt, but it was toote. He had done it. He had allowed himself to be pushed by his emotions. Instead of handling things like a man, he had made everything worse.


    "Hello, sir."


    The call connected, snapping him out of his thoughts. He straightened, shaking


    "Hello, Samuel. How are you doing?"


    "Great, sir," Samuel replied. He was the manager at Uncle Mike''s other club in Columbia.


    "How''s business been?"


    "Great, sir. We just got our supplies."


    off.


    Thomas''s heart tightened. He was suddenly grateful it wasn''t a video call. Sweat beaded on his forehead, intensifying his fear.


    "Good, good," he said, forcing himself to sound calm.


    He couldn''t show his naivety. He had to maintain the tough exterior; ruthless, fearless, even though he was far from it. In truth, he was terrified of Mateo Castro.


    His stomach twisted as his mind drifted tost night. It was the same panic, that same fear of everything falling apart, that had made him confront Bailey.


    Thinking back, it was reckless and dumb. He could''ve just let it go, ignored it like a normal person, but instead, he had panicked, confronted a federal agent, and taken his anger out on Ss when he suspected he had spoken to her.


    The end was near. He could feel it in his bones. And it was making him unravel.


    "Mr. Stone?" Samuel''s voice cut into his thoughts again.


    "I''m listening." He cleared his throat.


    "I said I''ve sent the rundown of the supplies to you, sir," Samuel repeated.


    "Alright," Thomas said, then paused. He didn''t want to continue the conversation. "Send me everything via email. I''ll check and get back to you. Something just came up."


    "Alright, sir," Samuel replied, and the call ended.


    Thomas mmed hisptop shut, his heart pounding. All these actions were beginning to get to him, and he could feel the stress taking a toll on him.


    Maybe it was time to destress.


    Just as he took out his phone, ready to pleasure himself to Rosie''s sexy video, the door opened, and one of Mateo''s guards entered without knocking


    Thomas frowned, his lips twisting. "I would appreciate a knock before entering."


    The guard scoffed as he moved forward, ignoring his statement. "You have a supply," he said, mming tworge ck bags on the table. His voice was thick with a Colombian ent.


    Thomas''s frown deepened as he stood. "Could you at least drop them on the floor?"


    The guard gave him a disrespectful look, a smirk ying on his lips. "The boss wants it sold out before the end of the week.


    3


    Thomas''s stomach twisted as the realization hit. He knew what was in those bags without looking. He swallowed hard. "You can''t have that here."


    The guard tilted his head. "Why not? This is how we deliver it."


    "Yes," Thomas said slowly, carefully. "To Uncle Mike. But he''s not here, and I don''t know how to handle it."


    The guard huffed. "Not my problem." Then he turned to the door. "I''ll be back for payment. Good day," he added and left.


    "You can''t-"


    The door mmed shut, cutting him off. Thomas''s jaw clenched.


    He eyed the bags suspiciously, unsure what to do.


    This was the part of the club business he had no experience with. He had never watched Uncle Mike handle this; he had always been nonchntly about the whole thing.


    He let out a long sigh. Maybe if he ignored it, he wouldn''t have to deal with it.


    But what if someone walked in? Or worse, Bailey?


    The thought sent a jolt of fear through him, and he quickly reached it. But then he stopped, curiosity surging despite the fear....


    And he let it lead him.


    He unzipped one bag and slowly opened it. The faint scent of chemicals hit his nose before he smelt the coffee grounds.


    There were dozens of tuna cans, small, clean, and unopened. But Thomas wasn''t fooled, he knew if he opened one can, he would probably see another.yer of packaging, maybe two, but underneath that would be a pouch of fine white powder.


    He shook his head, deciding he had seen enough. Just as he was cing the can back into the bag, the door burst open again, and he flinched.


    Ivy rushed in, her eyes zing with anger. Chen followed behind her, his face wrinkled with worry.


    "We need to talk," she said, moving closer, her tone matching her expression. "She just barged in, sir," Chen said, his voice wobbling. "I''m sorry."


    Thomas ignored their statement as he quickly dropped the can in the bag. Ivy saw the rest and her brow creased. Fear raced inside him as he zipped it fast and slid both bags under his table.


    He cleared his throat to ease out his nerves then turned to Chen. "Thank you, Chen. I''ll take it from here."


    "I apologize again, sir," Chen said with a bow and left.


    Once they were alone, Ivy folded her arms. "Since when did you start feeding cats?"


    His heart jumped, but he masked it. "None of your business," he said sharply. "Why are you here?"


    She dropped her hand, her lips curling. "Why did you hit Ss?"


    He sat down. "Is that why you''re here?"


    Her eyes widened. "You''re not that important, hope you know."


    He chuckled. "I''m not important, yet here you are."


    Her anger red, and she mmed her fist on his table. "Your problems are not enough reason to hurt others! That man had done too much for you disrespect him.


    11:14 Fri, 4 Jul GAE


    43.79%


    Thomas clenched his fists under the table, trying to control his rising temper. "I have more important things to worry about than..." He trailed off.


    "Than what?" she snapped. "Me? Or your brother?"


    He didn''t answer. He just opened hisptop.


    Ivy mmed it shut again, her eyes sparking with anger. "I don''t care what you''re going through, but it doesn''t give you the right to treat people like shit! Ss has done everything for you, taken care of the things you should be doing as the big brother, yet you pay him back with pain!"


    Her words got to him, sharp and deep. Before he could control himself, he shot to his feet, anger crashing over him. "What the fuck do you or Ss, or the rest of the family, know about sacrifice?"


    "He married a stranger for you!" she fired back. "He was ready to do so much more!"


    "He didn''t do it for me!" Thomas shouted, and Ivy gasped. He didn''t care, it was toote to hold back now. "Everything he did was for himself. Look at you, he''s happy with you. And I''m still stuck at square one."


    The shock on Ivy''s face onlysted a second before anger took over again. "Sorry you''re jealous of your brother''s happiness."


    "Jealous?" he scoffed. "There''s nothing he has that I want."


    "But you just admitted it. It''s not Ss''s fault you married a deranged woman."


    He gasped. "How dare you!"


    "Oh, you know it''s true, Thomas. Rosie''s a nightmare. And Ss is not the viin here."


    His anger boiled over. "Get out of my office!"


    "Or what? You''ll hit me too?" she barked, her eyes gleaming with defiance.


    He growled, marched to the door, and flung it open. "Get the fuck out!" he shouted, not caring that Uncle Mike''s staff could h


    "This is a warning, Thomas," Ivy said coldly, moving to him. "Next time you mess with him, we will not be talking."


    Her tone chilled him for a split second, but he recovered quickly. "He''s my brother, you don''t get a say."


    "I''m his wife, Thomas," she said. Her voice was low, but it still sent shivers through


    him.


    He looked away, and opened the door wider. "Bye, Ivy."


    Without another word, Ivy walked out of the office.


    Thomas mmed the door behind her, stormed to the table, and flipped it


    violently, pain shooting through his sore knuckles.


    "Ah! Fuck!" he screamed, just as his phone rang.


    He picked it up, his eyes hovering the mess on the floor. "Yes?" His voice was


    harsh.


    1. im.


    "Mr.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!